coop roof color

[pysankigirl]

We have started building our a-frame coop.

& It's freakin' hot out there...whew. Came in to cool down. 98 degrees in the shade!!!

Initial plan was to paint the roof a dark color to match our roofing shingles but DH is afraid the Chickens won't go inside because it will be a sauna in there... I am starting to agree with him but am worried that a light colored roof will look weird.

would really love y'all's imput.

coop so far (you can see that it is going to be mostly roof):


one of our challenges is that we have no flat ground, and I wanted a chicken-tractor style coop. The septic field was our most unobstructed and flat-ish area and is a pretty uniform 1:4 slope all the way across so I am building the coop to match the slope. (it will get wheels)

 

[popsicle]

Not sure what your house colors are, but assuming you have three colors to your house (roof, base, trim) you could recombine the colors so the lightest color is the coop roof, roof color is the coop trim, etc. I prefer lighter colors for roofs myself.

 

[cohobby]

I am currently building one as well and we wen with a white roof for the very reason of how hot dark would get. Our house is brick with white trim. The coop is redish with white trim and roof.

 

[Avonshire]

I went to Walmart and picked out a medium color for the sides and a lighter shade of that color for the roof. I am worried it will still be too dark! Picking paint is so hard!!!

 

[pysankigirl]

yeah, and the other thing I am wondering about is when to paint.
we just built this coop out of lumber purchased two days ago from Lowes and it seems like to me the lumber is still wet!
So should we wait to paint it? If so, how long?

 

[Raiderdave0109]

They say that PT wood, especially wet, should season for a year before painting. Theory being that you seal IN the moisture which leads to rot, as well as letting some of the chemicals leach out over time. It has been my exp. that as long as the wood is pretty dry to the touch, you can paint it. Your frame, after 4-5 days of solid sun and low humidity would be dry enough to paint it, IMO, anyway.
Lowes and HD are notorious for sopping wet wood, I let me deck stand for a year mostly just to see how many boards I needed to replace when they twisted. I didn't wait as long for my coop.

 

[pysankigirl]

I was worried about that...the chickens are going to make quite a mess in there before I can actually paint! Sigh.

 

[BillinPA]

I would look into a roof covering called ondura, its an asphalt based sheet style roofing material. It will add some weight, but will allow the roof to breath. i dont know what size you coop it but it is about 20 bucks for a sheet.